Highlights

  • Deadpool & Wolverine merges into the MCU, with major implications for the franchise in 2024.
  • Director Shawn Levy is candid about MCU struggles, aiming for a unique and gritty Deadpool 3.
  • Marvel seeks a win with Deadpool & Wolverine, banking on its potential to reignite the MCU.



The pressure is on for Deadpool & Wolverine, as the highly-anticipated threequel merges the successful Deadpool franchise into the embattled Marvel Cinematic Universe following a string of bad performances, and the film’s director isn’t sugarcoating it.

Deadpool & Wolverine is the third film in the popular Deadpool franchise but has since taken on way more significance both as the character’s official integration into the MCU and also as the Marvel Studios franchise’s only cinematic release in 2024. The stakes went up even further when leading man Ryan Reynolds revealed that, in addition to a plethora of new Marvel character debuts in Deadpool 3, it was also going to feature the return, and MCU debut, of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, an addition to the cast on the level of a Robert Downey Jr. return as Iron Man. Additionally, it was revealed that Stranger Things director Shawn Levy, who has already been attached to the Star Wars franchise post-Deadpool 3, would be at the helm of the upcoming project.


Levy, who promised fans a raw and gritty Deadpool 3 in the MCU after his attachment to the project, has no illusions about the state of the franchise he’s leading Deadpool and friends into. In a recent report on the state of things at Disney’s Marvel Studios, the Deadpool & Wolverine director spoke frankly about the state of the MCU, as well as reiterating why he believes that Deadpool & Wolverine has the potential to break out of the rut that Marvel has found itself in recently. “You’d have to live under a rock not to know that the last few Marvel movies have failed to ignite the world in the way that so many did,” Levy said when asked about it by Empire. “We do come along at an interesting time. And we are decidedly something different. Whether it is of Messianic proportions, time will tell.”



This is a sentiment that even Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige shares, conceding in the same report that “Some of the lines that Ryan and his writers and Shawn worked on have taken on more of a meaning” in light of the potential for Deadpool to reignite the MCU. While he admits things aren’t great, Feige isn’t actually all that perturbed by the franchise’s current state. “It’s nice to be able to rally behind one feature project this year,” Feige explained. “I’m much more comfortable being the underdog. I prefer being able to surprise, and exceed expectations. So it does seem like the last year, which has not been ideal, has set us up well for that.” Feige finds himself in agreement with a lot of others who similarly believe that Deadpool & Wolverine’s place as the only 2024 MCU film release is a good thing.



Fans have wondered what Shawn Levy’s influences could mean for Deadpool 3 since he was chosen to bring the ambitious project to theaters, but his recent statement makes it clear what the man himself thinks about his unique take. A director with a vision that draws from such classics as Midnight Run, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles coupled with the already unique take on the superhero genre that Reynold’s Deadpool has had since the onset will certainly be decidedly different. However, it’s worth asking if the success of Deadpool & Wolverine will lead to any sort of boon for the rest of the franchise, as the character’s “Marvel Jesus” quip seems to suggest, or if it will simply be a big needle move before a return to the current lull. The company already saw a similar pickup with the relative success of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which did little to halt the year-long trainwreck that started with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and ended with The Marvels.


One thing is certain, and it’s that Marvel Studios needs a win this year, and it wasn’t Echo’s DIsney+ debut, despite optimistic hopes that it held promise for the MCU’s future. With the rest of the year devoid of cinematic releases and the Agatha series starring Katheryn Hahn well past its best-by date, Marvel Studios can only sit back and hope that Deadpool really is their messiah.

Deadpool & Wolverine is currently set for theatrical release on July 26, 2024

Source: Empire